Us
by TheLoverOfBooks
Summary: Annabeth has a confession to make, but she doesn't know how to do it. "This isn't about money or work. It's about us, and it's been that way all along." Post-marriage Percabeth. Rated T to be safe.


It was around seven o'clock when Percy came home from work that night, opening the door to their shared apartment to hear the news blaring on the television and clanging noises coming from the kitchen. His brow furrowed, confused, as he made his way down the hallway towards the sounds. Sure enough, there was Annabeth, tossing things into pots and adjusting flames and looking a little bit overwhelmed. She turned to face Percy, leaning back against the counter top.

"Hey," she greeted him simply, glancing at the stove and lowering the flame of the water that she had brought to a boil, watching intently as its bubbling receded.

"Hey," Percy greeted in response, about to take a step towards her, but halted when he realized she had busied herself with other things, pouring a box of pasta into the pot of water. Instead, he moved to the other side of the kitchen.

"I thought we were going out tonight," he stated, confused, only to get a dirty look from Annabeth. "l mean, it's not bad that you're cooking or anything, I'm sure it'll be good, but it's Friday and we were panning on grabbing something on Long Island, and to stop back at camp later," he continued, trying to justify himself.

"Well, plans change," Annabeth muttered, stirring the pasta with a wooden spoon, looking up to meet his eyes. "I thought it might be nice, staying in for a change. We can still go to camp tomorrow, if you want to," she suggested, breaking their gaze once again.

"Fine, that's okay," Percy replied, a bit crestfallen. He had been looking forward to going out, having some time alone with her, away from the house. The whole week had been insane, between Annabeth staying late at work and Percy spending time balancing doing things for camp, which he really wasn't obligated to do but felt the need to anyway, and his job teaching gym at a local elementary school. Go figure, he'd hated school all his life, and now he ends up a teacher. He loved his job, though, and that was all that mattered.

"So I went over our vacation plans for next month, and it seems like everything's set in stone, though you might want to look over the itinerary... you know how I am with those kinds of things," he suggested, giving a small laugh. The two had been planning to go to Europe all year, as a late soft of honeymoon after having gotten married the August prior, as they were just too busy to go immediately after the wedding. They'd both managed to get two weeks off the next July, however, so they agreed to go then. It was something they'd been planning for months and months, looking forward to for what seemed like forever.

Annabeth didn't meet his eyes, didn't look remotely interested. "That's wonderful, Percy," she replied, not sounding enthusiastic in the least. "You know, I'm not really sure we should go anymore..." she began hesitantly, "Money's tight, we're both busy enough as it is, and I don't know if I can leave my business for so long without having problems," she continued, sounding genuinely troubled, but Percy knew better.

"Annabeth, we've been planning this for months, we can't just drop it now. I know money's tight, but we've been saving forever and we can make it work. Your business will be perfectly fine, and we're going to have an amazing time. We both deserve this, you know that, and I know how much you want to go," Percy argued determinedly. "Is something going on?" he asked her.

"Nothing's going on," Annabeth replied, though she didn't meet his eyes, continuing to stir the pasta in the pot. "I just feel like two weeks is a long time to leave everything on its own, and I don't think I can just drop it all, and this trip isn't that important..." she trailed off quietly, lowering the pasta to a simmer and pouring a jar of sauce into another pot.

"Not important?" Percy responded incredulously. "This trip has always been important. We have saved up dollar after dollar for months in order to afford to go. This isn't about money or work. It's about us, and it's been that way all along. The whole purpose of the trip was so that we could spend time together, because between your job and mine and camp and everything we have so little of it. Do you really care more about your job than me? Is this what it's come to?" he paused, running a hand through his hair. "Gods, I know running a business is difficult, especially in architecture, but seriously, what's two weeks gone in the grand scheme of things?" He exhaled in frustration.

Annabeth flinched almost infinitesimally when he accused her of not caring, but she still couldn't meet his eyes. "I just don't think I can do it, Percy-"

"I know you can," he replied, cutting her off, his anger increasing quickly. "I love you,

Annabeth, and that's why I'm doing this. But if you can't accept that right now, and you're going to be difficult all night, I'm going to leave, because I don't think I can take any more of this crap." Percy rose, retrieving his keys and moving towards the door, turning back to look at Annabeth once.

"I'll be at camp," he began. "Don't worry about me, or anything. I'll be back." That was a promise, even if he was kind of pissed at her. He continued down the hallway, and Annabeth stiffened. She had to tell him. The front door clicked open. "Percy, wait!" she called, taking a step forward, her voice extremely apprehensive. She turned off the burners on the stove and hastily made her way down the hallway, abandoning the kitchen. Percy faced her, a flicker of anger still evident on his face, but when he met her nervous eyes his own softened. She took a careful breath.

"I have something I need to tell you. I should have done it before, but..." Annabeth paused uncertainly, trying to evaluate his expression for a minute. "Don't be mad at me," she pleaded, and Percy looked at her, some of the frustration in his gaze replaced with confusion.

"Percy, I'm pregnant." Annabeth forced the words out, meeting his eyes. They were a large mix of emotions, and Annabeth waited anxiously, trying to maintain herself and breaking his gaze once again. Finally, Percy moved forward towards her, shutting the front door behind him and tracing her cheek with his fingertips, causing her to look up at him once more.

"How could I ever be mad at you because of that?" Percy asked gently, removing his hand from her cheek. "Is this what it was all about?" he continued, and

Annabeth nodded slightly.

"We had saved up so much money all year to go on this trip, but I found out I was pregnant and I didn't know how we were going to do it between doctor's bills and furniture and clothes and gods, we're going to need to move, Percy... and we had both agreed that we weren't going to have kids for at least five years if we were going to have any because we're so young, barely out of college, but that one night was so crazy and we just kind of forgot..." Annabeth looked down at the floor. "How are we going to keep him safe, Percy?" He didn't reply, but instead folded her into his arms carefully, surprised to find that she trembled slightly.

"It's a boy?" he asked, eyes widening.

"No," Annabeth responded. "At least, I don't know. Maybe," she let out a soft chuckle.

"We'll manage, Annabeth, I promise," he murmured, tucking a strand of hair away from her face. "We'll find a way, I'll get a loan and my insurance from work will cover the medical bills and this will work out," he said to her softly. "We'll do the best we can with him, and I know we won't let anything happen to him. It'll work out; I know it, because I know us. And we're still going on vacation, even if it means we're going to have to settle for a bit less than we're used to for a few months once we get back on our feet." Percy kissed her forehead gently.

"Now you're calling it a him, too," Annabeth mused with a small smile.

"Well, I can't just call our baby an 'it,'" he protested, a smile playing along his lips as well. They both stood there for a few moments, engulfed in each other.

"I love you, though I'm sure you already know that," Annabeth whispered, touching her forehead to his. "And, by the way, I know that 'us' is very, very important. I've always known," she concluded, meeting his lips with a sense of finality. "I'm sorry, Percy… I'll tell you, next time, when something happens," she promised, and Percy responded by kissing her again, deepening it more than before and lifting her up so her legs fitted themselves perfectly about his waist as their mouths collided.

"Maybe you shouldn't," he breathed with a small smirk before he planted yet another kiss on her neck. "Because then we might not end up like this…" he finished, only to have Annabeth swat at him. She allowed him to kiss her anyway, but pulled away for a second, just looking at him.

"This baby is going to have an excellent father, Percy Jackson," she whispered with a grin, snaking her arms around his neck.

"His mother won't be too shabby either," he responded, and she kissed him once more, only to pull away with a horrifying realization.

"How are we going to tell our parents?"

**A/N: That ending kind of came out of nowhere. LOL. I had another one, but it was a bit ooc and fluffy and meh. Whatever. Anyhow, thank you so so much for reading this, I really do appreciate it, and feel free to shoot me a review or some suggestions for stories. I'm always open to constructive criticism. Also, expect a few more drabbles in the near future, I'm planning a Percabeth fic involving a letter and a reunion of sorts, and another family type fic between Annabeth and Chiron, which should be cute but different. :D Thanks for reading, and have an excellent day! **


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